Two Columbia Gorge Hikes and more witches in PDX

October 30, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Tom McCall Point 10/21/2019

Beautiful fall colors on a trail we usually hike during spring wildflower season. Hike #48, 4 miles, 1050 feet. A few comparison photos:

We are going to the top of Tom McCall Point:

October 2019

May 2017

Looking west toward the Memaloose Hills from the trail:

October 2019

April 2016

Looking northeast across the Columbia River to the Lyle Cherry Orchard where we hiked last week:

October 2019

April 2019

Oak trees:

October 2019

April 2019

And a few lingering fall wildflowers:

golden weed

Angel’s Rest 10/24/2019

Another favorite hike with outstanding views! Hike #49, 5 miles, 1500 feet.

Coopey Falls

Fall reflections in Coopey Creek

Angel’s Rest – our destination.

Eastward view of the Columbia River; Mt Adams peeking above the Washington Gorge topography.

Closer view of Mt Adams.

Western view of the Columbia River.

Trees in the burn zone – 2017 Gorge Fire.

Heading down on a beautiful fall day.

Neighborhood walk and more witches!

First fall for this new black tupelo

Two wildlife refuges, Indian Heaven, and trying to keep up with fall colors, Sept-Oct 2019

October 13, 2019October 30, 2019 / margaretquilts

It has been a busy couple of weeks – a quilt show, a fiber festival, hikes at two wildlife refuges and Indian Heaven Wilderness. Meanwhile, the Mac hard drive is off at the Genius repair shop. I am learning blog work-arounds via iPad.

Friday, September 27 – I attended the Northwest Quilt Expo, admired all the quilts and photographed many. This vintage Tile Friendship Quilt (circa 1900, maker unknown) from the Latimer Quilt Museum, was very interesting. Seemingly random shapes are appliquéd to a plain background, each signed by a different maker in true Friendship Quilt style. It looks very modern, but it is old and entirely hand stitched!

I bought a few fat eighths to add to a batik quilt in my mental UFO list.

Sunday, September 29 -I visited the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby, Oregon, just long enough to buy a lighter weight spindle and more fiber to practice drop spinning.

Then we went to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, our first visit there, and walked around the perimeter. Not many birds have arrived yet, but there are great overlooks and a nice winter trail for future visits. (Hike#44, 3.6 miles)

Great Blue Heron

Hawthorne berries

Looking across the refuge – soon this will be flooded with water and birds.

Great Blue Heron on the return trail.

Saturday, October 5 – We went to the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Washington during their season closing bird fest. We walked the Kiwa Trail and part of the newly opened Carty Lake trail, and also went inside the Chinook Plankhouse to look around. (Hike#45, 3.2 miles)

Turtles

Sand Hill Cranes

Sand Hill Cranes in flight.

Great Horned Owl

Carty Lake

Chinook plank house

Inside the plankhouse.

Chinook Salmon trap

Sunday, October 6 – We joined friends for a hike in Indian Heaven Wilderness – from the East Crater trailhead to Junction and Lemei Lakes. Late fall colors, thawed mushrooms and blueberries, very pretty. (Hike#46, 8.8 miles, 1000 feet)

East Crater beyond one of many small lakes along the trail.

Junction Lake

Lemei Rock

Lemei Lake

Neighborhood walks – Meanwhile, in Northeast Portland, the days grow shorter, the light angles lower, the leaves more colorful.

Katsura trees

Sumac

Neighborhood witches hunting…

More witches…

Ash trees reflected in nearby windows.

Rain chain shadows

Knitting – I am making progress on my Meris cardigan….

Tech problems as the season turns

October 1, 2019 / margaretquilts

September 30, 2019

Our five year old Mac is complaining about the many thousands of photos my husband and I ask it to manipulate. Not being digital natives, and having shared this computer and its predecessors with our three now grown digital natives who downloaded all kinds of unknown items into our shared memory space, we have been told by the very helpful people at tech support that our hard drive hygiene is not good. That is just a long way of saying that I can’t post about some recent adventures until I can free the photos from their well backed up hard drive.

Meanwhile, the sun shifts ever slightly to the south….

Leaves turning orange

Late roses

Yarn bombing in the neighborhood

Future quilt patterns?

Morning light in my kitchen

Katsura turning orange

I got my ring back!

At least three years ago I had my wedding ring cut off because I could no longer remove it, due (I thought) to arthritis in the knuckle or weight gain. I didn’t know that the insidious excess growth hormone of acromegaly had caused my bones to grow. About a year later, the missing wedding ring was one of the keys to diagnosis. Now almost two years since the pituitary surgery and about a year since the medication regime has controlled the growth hormone to ‘normal levels’ for now, we took my ring to a jeweler who put it back together and polished it up, nice and shiny, in a size that fits! It is nice to have it back! Only about 3 months until our 35th anniversary.

Seasonal art…

And because I can’t resist, and it seems seasonal in more ways than one, a screen shot from the artist Shanalee Hampton’s instagram post:

Portland Interlude, mid-September 2019

September 26, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Afternoon rainstorm…

Walk on Alameda Ridge…

View to Portland west hills

yard gnome

Street art

26th Ave stairs

And some knitting…

Main Street Cup Cosy by tincanknits in Cascade 220 Aporto – knit group project

A quiet week with a visit to the frogpond…

September 12, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Some rain, helping someone move, house painting, future trip planning, but no actual hiking this week.

A new home

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A late birthday present

Reverse knitting during La Vuelta de Espana:

Last year I knit a long loose vest, but it doesn’t fit or hang well, so I decided to ‘frog’ it during La Vuelta de Espana. The Vuelta is the three week bicycle stage race through Spain, one of the three European grand tours. People spin for The Tour de France, and I chose this for my project as we review the coverage of the Vuelta each evening. The mountains of Spain look amazing, and once again, the cyclists are incredible.

Farewell, Ivy Cardigan

Unravelling (frogging), and reskeining;

Drying the skeins after a good soak to remove the kinks;

Reskeined, ready to knit again.

Wildwood Trail and Tour de Fleece

July 24, 2019September 26, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

July 19, 2019 Wildwood Trail

A short hike this week on the Wildwood trail in the Portland Arboretum. We stayed in the shade, though it is not as hot here as other places right now. Hike #32, 2.6 miles, 200 feet.

sun and shade

fireweed

thistle

Wildwood Trail map

Tour de Fleece

It is Tour de France time, which we love, and I have joined the parallel Tour de Fleece. I took a drop spindling class in the fall of 2017 at my local yarn shop. Shortly thereafter, spinning fell by the wayside as I dealt with my acromegaly diagnosis. For Tour de Fleece 2019 I pulled out my drop spindle and remaining fiber samples. I borrowed the Maggie Casey Getting Started on a Drop Spindle DVD from my library. I have been spinning a bit of fiber each night as we fast forward our way through each day’s stage in France. I love seeing the landscape, mountains, castles of France, and the bike race has been exceptionally unpredictable this year. And I feel like I am getting a new feel for spinning, and would love to take another class.

I have also been knitting my traveling socks, and have started a shawl that is a gift for someone…

Garden

It is berry time at the farmer’s market,

marionberries

blueberries

raspberries

and we have more blooms in the garden.

sumac flower

hydrangea

zinnias

Back in Portland, June 5, 2019

June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We returned last weekend from two and a half weeks visiting in Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Colorado. There were planes, trains, subways, busses, automobiles, a boat, and bicycles; a baby, dogs, cats and the Blue Angels; tornado damage, lakes, rivers, mountains, wildflowers, poison oak, and topiary; a birthday, a graduation, ice cream, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Appalachian Trail! I will report on all that later. Meanwhile, back in Oregon, the weeds have grown and new flowers are blooming.

beardstongue

maple

blue star creeper

acantha

Canterbury bell

coreopsis

tomato

rose

foxglove

Knitting

I made a bit of progress on my travel socks

and started a new project at a knit-in at my local yarn shop.

Weldon Wagon Road, WA

May 14, 2019 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

5/10/2019

We walked Weldon Wagon Trail on a hot day in May. Balsamroot beginning to fade in the heat. I craved the shade, wished for a breeze in the still air, unlike the windblown walk last week at The Dalles Mountain Ranch. Lupine, clarkia, manroot, various parsleys, cutleaf violets, no sasquatch sighting this year. An enjoyable walk with friends. This will likely be my last of the balsamroot hikes this year! (Hike #22, 5.5 miles, 1300 feet).

Lupine along the trail in the lower woodlands.

First view of the open flowered slope.

Our trail ahead across the balsamroot slope,

and a view of Mt Hood across the valley.

Friends ahead.

Balsamroot

Looking straight up at the steep slope above.

Turnaround point

And back the way we came,

Back into the shade on a hot day.

New or notable flowers:

lupine

starflower

fringe cup

tar weed

clarkia

cutleaf violet

Neighborhood and Garden

Birthday bouquet

Our rhododendron in bloom,

And our native irises.

Giant camas in a neighborhood garden.

Local fairy garden.

Knitting

I finished the Frost Slippers. The fit is a bit tight, but they should fit someone! Interesting construction, including stranding, steeking, and seaming, and I used up a lot of the leftover Dr Who Scarf yarn.

Yarn for travel knitting!

((This post has the first photos using my new camera (Sony HX90V).)

Columbia Hills, WA, Tryon Creek, OR, and some Brioche Knitting

April 9, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Crawford Oaks 4/4/2019

We had to drive 75 miles east to the Columbia Hills to find a dry hike this weekend. We started up the road to Eight Mile Falls, then continued on the Vista Loop. It was a bit late for grass widows and yellow bells, and a bit early for full balsamroot display, so we had a bit of each, on a windless day. A lovely hike, and pretty easy, compared to when we hiked here about a year ago and I was less than two months post surgery. Next spring, we will attempt this hike a few weeks later to get the full balsamroot experience.

Bird welcoming us to the trail.

The graphic showing the depth of the Missoula Floods here always impresses me.

Eight Mile Falls

Looking back west toward the river and Horsethief Butte.

One of the scattered early blooming balsamroots.

View to the west, toward The Dalles

View to the east toward Biggs

Looking north to the Columbia Hills

One swale of shooting stars – first of the season

A blue jay near the trailhead

Last look at Horsethief Butte

Hike #15, 5 miles/1000 feet

The wildflower suite:

Shooting stars

Gold and woodland stars

yellow bell

biscuitroot

slender phlox

big head clover in bud

salt and pepper

saxifrage

grass widow and woodland stars

miner’s lettuce

smooth stem parsley

balsamroot

ballhead waterleaf

filaree and pungent parsley

Sunday dash around Tryon Creek to see the Trillium

4/7/2019 A rainy weekend in Portland, a weather window, so we went:

Trillium in swathes in the woodlands, and individually along the trail.

After a weekend of rain, some flowers were becoming transparent

Other flowers included skunk cabbage in the bogs near the creek.

Lots of water dripping, but we mostly avoided actual rain.

cedar

violets

Oregon grape

(Hike#16, 2.2 miles, 200 feet)

Knitting

Progress on the Vintage Prim hat, with brioche:

I will just say that there has been frogging, and use of lifelines. I have even learned to fix one or two stitches, but a big fix is still beyond me with this technique. I do love how it looks!

Spring Break 2019 – Knitting and Cherry Blossoms

April 5, 2019April 5, 2019 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Knitting – Frost Slippers

I crocheted the steeks,

and cut,

and cut again.

I have basted the edges, and blocked.

Frost Slippers – uppers and soles, blocked.

Next I will sew soles to uppers, then add cuffs. There is a lot of finishing work in these slippers, but so far I am intrigued enough by the process to keep going!

Lyle Cherry Orchard, WA 3/29/2019

A beautiful day to hike up the cliffs above the Columbia River with friends, and try the new trail switchbacks. There are a few old cherry trees along the uppermost cliff loop that were not in bloom today, but we saw many wildflowers, including some balsamroot. (Hike #14, 5.6 miles, 1500 feet)